I've been Christmas knitting lately and had the occasion to knit buttonholes to finish off the front of a vest. I had made buttonholes in the past and while they worked, they weren't great. They were not super neat and they had an annoying loop of yarn at one end that consistently caught on the … Continue reading Beautiful (and easy!) Buttonholes
There are a lot of different cast-on methods out there but I have to admit that the cable cast-on is my all time favorite. I use it about 95% of the time and I loooove the way it looks. Recently, I happened to watch a video of someone performing this technique (sorry, I don't remember … Continue reading My Take on the Cable Cast-on
Shawl knitting offers a lot of fun choices for the knit designer. After some general conceptualizing, the first specific choice is always: hmmmm, what shape of shawl do I want that shows off my stitches or texture or color work the best? If the answer is an equilateral triangle shawl, there are a couple of … Continue reading Try the CDI for triangular shawl magic
The best way to wash a woolen garment is by hand in cool water with only gentle squeezing to get rid of the excess water when done. This, of course, is a giant pain in the butt, so countless folks have resorted to throwing their woolies into the washer to save time (washers are a … Continue reading Yes, you CAN felt superwash wool
Today, I'm writing up a different kind of post. Instead of a knitting technique how-to or photos of some of my pieces, I thought I'd share some of my favorite, I might say even indispensable, online resources that I go to again and again. Some may well be familiar to you but maybe you'll see … Continue reading Online resources for knitters
Using multiple strands of yarn to create a colorful fabric is one of the most beautiful forms of knitting, imho. This is also known as Fair Isle knitting, (named after an island of Shetland in northern Scotland where it has long been practiced), particularly when traditional colors and motifs are employed. Instructions for the pattern(s) … Continue reading Interpreting Color-work Charts
Everyone is used to making a ribbing of some sort for the cast on beginning of just about every kind of knitted garment. And why not? It is indeed a great utilitarian pattern: ribbing tames stockinette from rolling and draws the width of the fabric in and even acts as a visual frame to the … Continue reading Knitted Picot Hem
A cast-on edge is meant to be a permanent foundation to your knit. There are various methods depending on how you want it to look and how stretchy you want it to be. But...sometimes you don't want that foundation to be so permanent. You want to be able to cast on and knit, of course, … Continue reading Provisional cast-on
I wrote previously about picking up stitches at the edges of a heel flap--a bugaboo for many knitters. The story there was to make a 1 stitch garter edge on both sides and then just pick up the purl "bumps". Easy-peasey! Problem solved! Well...for sock heel flaps, anyway. But what if you have some other … Continue reading Another Kind of Pick-up
Knitting socks top down is all hunky-dory and easy as its a simple tube until you get to the heel. That's when a bit of engineering comes in. You must sufficiently accommodate that part of the human anatomy while also still maintaining comfort. And if you can provide a cushioning or slightly thicker surface for … Continue reading Heel Flaps: lots of options
